Tolstoy (1828–1910) wrote Master and Man in 1894, from an idea which originated two years earlier while he was organising food centres in the famine-stricken areas of central Russia. The story is of two individuals caught in a snowstorm. By showing how they react when faced with danger and lonely death, Tolstoy expressed implicitly what he felt to be essential to man for his understanding of the meaning of life and his acceptance of death. Mrs. Aitken has stressed the Russian text first published in 1895. She includes a brief introductory essay on Tolstoy and Master and Man and provides notes on the text and a full vocabulary.
